DOTD awarded $40 million to I-10 corridor improvements

BATON ROUGE – Governor John Bel Edwards announced Thursday that DOTD received $40 million in additional federal funding that will be put towards improvement to parts of I-10.

Edwards said the money will be used to improve I-10 from I-49 to the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in Lafayette and St. Martin parishes.

With the additional $40 million, Edwards said his FASTLANE grant application has been awarded a total of $100 million in federal highway funding for projects along I-10. He and DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson worked on the grant during Edward’s transition to the governor’s office. It was formally submitted in April.

Edwards said DOTD received the funding after successfully obligating the full amount of its federal funding during the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

"This announcement is good news for the state,” Wilson said. “The I-10 corridor is vital for national commerce and for the everyday travelers who use the intestate system of the state.”